How Peculiar
by Nationofimagination
Summary: Loki befriends a child from an allied realm in hopes of gaining his father's favor. Little does he know that this friendship will lead the young pair to discover a secret that neither of them are ready to understand.


"Why do I always have to be the frost giant? You're taller than I am, you be it this time!"

The young, scrawny prince stamped his foot in frustration as his brother brandished his wooden sword at him.

"Because, brother," Thor said matter-of-factly, "someday, I will be king of Asgard, and the king's job is to protect the kingdom from frost giants. Remember Father's story, Loki?"

Thor playfully jabbed at Loki's ribs with his weapon, laughing gleefully at his brother's vain attempts to swat it away. Loki caught his guffawing brother off guard when he grasped the end of the sword and gave it a good tug, intended to free the toy from Thor's hand. He quickly realized this was a mistake when he caused his brother to lose his balance, sending the thickly-built prince careening into his dark-haired, twig of a brother.

"Oomph!"

Both brothers grunted as they made impact with the dirt floor. Loki struggled under the weight of his brother, trying to push him off. The younger prince complied, rolling off of Loki's body, but only to jump to his feet and place his left foot on his brother's chest.

"Ha hah!" Thor cried victoriously as if he had defeated a mighty foe, "I have defeated the frost giants once again!"

He brought his fists to his hips and puffed out his chest as he peered down at his defeated frost giant, "You see, Loki? I am just like Father! That is why I will be king!"

"Well I could be just like Father, too, if you would just let me kill the frost giants for once!" Loki shouted, shoving Thor's boot off of him and awkwardly shuffling to his feet.

Thor crossed his arms over his chest and smirked at Loki, obviously still acting as if his brother were an enemy who no longer posed any threat to him. "Oh, don't be stupid, Loki. I'm more like Father than you'll ever be." He picked up his wooden sword from the ground and shot his brother a challenging smile. "Now come on, race me to the gates!"

With that, he took off toward the tall golden palace gates. Loki sprinted across the courtyard, trying his hardest to catch up to his brother, and feeling that familiar sensation of dwindling hope when he saw Thor's fingers reach out to touch the gate…

"My sons,"

Both boys' heads turned quickly. Eager smiles stretched across both of their faces as they took off towards their father. After rushing up the shining golden steps (with a much wider stride than Loki's, I might add), Thor looked up at his father with admiration. "Did you see me, Father?" he asked, beaming in hopes of an affirmation from his role model, "Did you see how strong I was?"

Odin ruffled Thor's hair with a dignified chuckle. "You are a true warrior, my son." Keeping his right hand in Thor's hair, the king lifted his left to grab Loki by the shoulder and pull him closer. "Come, both of you. We will be receiving guests within the hour. Frigga!"

The boys' mother appeared around the corner of the gates and calmly made her way to her family at the top of the stairs.

"Yes, Allfather?"

Loki looked up at his mother. He figured that he had inherited his ability to keep his head from his mother just as Thor had inherited his strength from their father. Frigga's elegant air combined with her level-headedness and compassion balanced out the Allfather's stern countenance and booming voice. They were also the things that made his mother's arms Loki's sanctuary.

"It seems that underneath this muddy armor, there are two Asgardian princes!" The boys both looked down at their clothes and saw that they were, indeed, caked with dirt and grime. "Please," continued Odin, "Could you see that they are given a bath? The last thing I need is for the Ambassador from Alfheim to be greeted by the sight of muddy footprints."

"Why is the Ambassador coming, father?" inquired a curious Loki.

Odin peered down at the young prince, lifting one eyebrow quizzically. "Well, a king has many jobs, my son. One of those jobs is to keep the peace between the nine realms. I invited the Ambassador because he is a friend, and a large part of keeping peace is keeping friends."

Odin then turned his head towards Thor and ruffled his son's blonde hair. "You can begin preparing for such duties today, seeing as how the Ambassador is bringing his daughter along with him. You two must befriend this girl; as she grows older, she will become a respected figure in Alfheim. Such a companion would be a great asset,"

Odin turned his gaze back to Loki. "for both of you."

Hours later in the throne room, the royal family and a large portion of the members of court had assembled to greet the Ambassador from Alfheim. Odin sat on his golden throne; to his left stood Frigga, then Thor, and lastly, Loki.

The two young princes watched the opposite wall of the throne room, their eyes trained on the ornate golden doors. Both of them were eager to see a native of Alfheim. The boys had heard stories of the different manners of creatures that inhabited the nine realms, but Loki had read books about Alfheim. He was eager to see if the image he had formed in his head of the Ice Elves with their pointed ears and blue skin was anything like reality. Sure enough, the way he had pictured them was spot on.

The Ambassador was tall and slim, and he carried himself with a dignity and confidence that was, in a way, fiercely intimidating. His skin was crystal blue, a brilliant shade of azure which Loki couldn't quite name. His pointed ears were so tall that they almost reached the top of his head, from which flowed a river of sleek, dark blue hair that ended at his shoulder blades. He wore a simple, long-sleeved blue robe with white fur at the collar.

Following closely behind the Ambassador was the smallest girl Loki had ever seen. She was, like the Ambassador, an Ice Elf, with skin a slightly darker shade of blue and hair that was such a pale periwinkle color that it almost looked white. She wore her locks in a short braid down her back with a delicate silver coronet resting on her head. Her dress was more ornate than the Ambassador's; though the robes were similar in style, hers was adorned with intricate silver designs that twisted and curled across every inch of the pale blue velvety fabric.

When Loki took his eyes off of the beautiful stitchery, his eyes locked with those of the girl who wore the robe. He quickly looked away, embarrassed. Though part of him wished he was brave enough to make eye contact with her once more, so that he could study her eyes. He had read somewhere that the Ice Elves had eyes the color of gold, and his brief shared gaze with the tiny girl had not been long enough for Loki to see if this was true.

While Odin met with the Ambassador, Thor and Loki were given the task of keeping the smaller Ice Elf entertained. Her name was Dymphna, they learned not long after the guests had entered the throne room.

Thor tried to coax Dymphna into playing games in the courtyard that included running, hiding, throwing balls, catching balls, but to no avail. It didn't take him long to give up and go on to the courtyard without them.

Loki stayed behind with Dymphna. He figured that if Thor didn't do the job that the Allfather had given them, Loki would have that much more of a chance of gaining Odin's approval. Maybe he would even ruffle Loki's hair for once. Loki grinned at how satisfying it would be to see Thor receive the less-than-affectionate pat on the back, and to see Odin give Thor the quizzical, "it's none of your business" eyebrow.

Calling himself back from his fantasy to reality, he turned his gaze to the spot in which Dymphna stood- or _had been_ standing. _Uh-oh._

Loki's head swiveled from left to right, looking for the little blue girl. He searched the room, and then the next room, and the next and the next. She was nowhere to be found. Loki ran through hallway to hallway, checking every room until he saw a blue blur out of the corner of his eye.

Loki entered the room, his footsteps echoing off of the marble floor, walls, and ceiling. This was his mother's sun room. The tall glass windows that lined the walls let in so much light that it almost felt as if Loki was standing in the courtyard rather than inside. In the center of the room was an expertly carved fountain made from pure white marble.

"You found me!"

Loki whipped his head around, startled by the high-pitched exclamation that came from- actually, he wasn't quite sure which direction it had come from; the voice bounced off of every surface in the room. But before he could answer with a 'Where are you?', Dymphna came into view, walking along the lowermost rim of the fountain, her arms outstretched to her sides. The fountain was not very tall, with not enough space for her to hurt herself if she fell in, so Loki simply walked alongside her on the ground below.

"Yes, I did. You know, I would have appreciated a warning that we were playing hide-and-seek before you disappeared."

"But what fun would that have been?" retorted the little Elf.

Loki considered this, and replied, "Not as much fun for you, probably. But far more polite."

Dymphna glanced at him with a scowl on her face before quickly refocusing on her balance on the fountain rim.

"I am tired of being polite. It means that I cannot say what I am thinking, and therefore I could certainly do without it."

Loki was impressed by the eloquence of this little girl who seemed to be much younger than him. _She must read often,_ he thought.

"I prefer you very much over your brother. He has the brains of a bilgesnipe."

Loki laughed out loud at that observation. "Good to know I'm not the only one who thinks so." Though he felt immediately guilty for approving of her insult to his brother. "But Thor is strong. He is a warrior…warriors are the once who become Asgardian kings, not scholars. Brains don't matter as long as you can wield a sword."

Now it was Dymphna's turn to laugh. "If that is all that your realm looks for in a king, I'm not sure if you are the ones we want for allies. My father respects your king for a reason, and I doubt that the reason is the size of his muscles. I believe that intelligence is what makes a good king."

Dymphna turned to Loki. "You like to read?"

Loki nodded. "How did you know?"

The little blue Elf smiled, "I can just tell. You seem like someone who likes to read." She continued to walk along the rim with Loki following close to her side.

"What do you like to read about?" she asked.

"History," Loki replied. "I read about the histories of all the nine realms. And you?"

At this, Dymphna stopped and looked over her shoulder, giving Loki a mischievous smile.

"Sorcery,"

Loki's eyebrows shot up. "Sorcery?" the subject had always seemed so foreign to him. It was certainly intriguing, but he had never actually picked up a book about such a subject. "Have you learned any spells?"

Dymphna smirked and brought her eyes to the bottom of the fountain, where a pool of water had accumulated. She began breathing slowly and deeply. Then she raised her hands up in front of her, gradually bringing them higher and higher. Once her hands reached her eye-level, her hands shot up in a blue blur to form a perfect vertical. As this happened, all of the water in the fountain froze, turning into solid ice.

Loki's jaw dropped, his eyes wide. Never before had he seen someone so young do something that seemed so impossible. He looked back at Dymphna, who was smiling at him triumphantly. She then started walking along the rim once more, as if the fountain were just as it had been seconds ago, and not frozen solid into a marble and ice sculpture.

"Could I learn how to do that?" Loki asked her eagerly. "I'm sure you could," Dymphna said, shrugging her shoulders. "I can send you a book with some basic spells, if you'd like. I've already learned all of them."

Suddenly, Dymphna's foot slipped on a patch of ice on the rim of the fountain and tumbled onto Loki, sending them both onto the floor. The brunt of the fall went too Loki's bent elbows, which he landed on in an attempt to break his fall with his hands. Dymphna landed sprawled across Loki's legs, cushioning the fall more than the marble would have. Loki rose to his feet and reached out his hand to help her up.

"Are you alright?" he asked. Dymphna accepted his hand, allowing him to pull her to her feet. "Yes, I think so," she said faintly.

She looked up at him, still grasping his hand. "Thank you." Loki simply stared into the little Elf's eyes. He had almost forgotten to check and see what color her eyes were.

They were gold. Bright gold. So gold, they were almost yellow. They were fascinating. Loki was almost sad when she broke their gaze to look down. But he was torn out of his reverie when he heard her gasp. "Loki, your arm!"

Loki looked down at their clasped hands, and saw not one blue hand, but two. Starting at where Dymphna's hand touched his, and slowly creeping up his arm before his eyes, was a dark blue color that seeped through his skin, turning it darker, coarser, and so much colder than his normal skin. And it was spreading up his arm fast.

Dymphna quickly let go of Loki's hand and slowly, but surely, the blue skin on Loki's arm began to return back to normal. Both of the children watched, captivated by this unexpected turn of events that was taking place on Loki's arm.

They kept their eyes trained on the retreating blue color until it disappeared altogether. The silence lasted for what felt like an eternity until finally, Dymphna broke it.

"Well," she said quietly, "how peculiar."


End file.
